“Have To Shrug...”: Saif Ali Khan Finally Breaks Silence On ‘Adipurush’ Disaster
Saif Ali Khan has finally addressed the failure of ‘Adipurush’, months after the film’s release.
Who doesn't remember the colossal failure of Om Raut's ‘Adipurush’! The 2023 movie, starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan, was expected to be a massive blockbuster. Despite high expectations and anticipation, the Indian epic film failed to live up to the hype surrounding it. Critics and audiences alike pointed out various shortcomings, including weak storytelling, dialogues and unconvincing special effects. Many also felt that the film’s ambitious scale did not translate effectively onto the screen, resulting in a disjointed viewing experience.
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The Indian movie, which released in cinemas in June 2023, was an adaptation of mythological epic ‘Ramayana’ and co-starred Sunny Singh and Devdatta Nage. In the film, Saif Ali Khan played Lankesh (Ravana), while Prabhas and Kriti Sanon played the role of Ram and Sita respectively. The entire cast of the film didn’t address the movie’s failure after it received horrendous reviews.
Nobody barring writer-lyricist Manoj Muntashir Shukla spoke publicly about the film. Months after the release, Saif Ali Khan has now finally addressed the film's failure.
In an interview with Film Companion, Saif Ali Khan spoke about how he does not see himself as a star who can open all sorts of projects. He cited the example of his 2019 film ‘Laal Kaptaan’.
“I’m not star enough to pull off anything,” he said with a laugh.
“It’s nice to be realistic, and I’ve never actually thought of myself as a star, and I don’t really want to also. I like being a star, but I don’t want to be delusional. My parents are big stars, but very realistic, very normal. There’s so much more in life to be real about, my focus has always been on that… The idea is not to be scared of failing. People say, ‘That was a brave choice’,” he added.
Addressing ‘Adipurush’, Saif Ali Khan said, “You talk about Adipurush, for example. People talk about risks, but if you fall on your face, it’s not a risk really. You have to have a few of those also, and it’s a part of the approach. You have to shrug it off, feel bad, and say, ‘Nice try, but bad luck, let’s go to the next one’.”
Speaking further about ‘Laal Kaptaan’, Saif Ali Khan recalled that his co-star Deepak Dobriyal told him on the sets that the film could be their ‘The Revenant’.
“Firstly, it was an amazing experience, and so exhausting. And emotionally, we spent a couple of months apart,” he said, while gesturing towards his wife Kareena Kapoor, who was also a part of the interview.
For the unversed, ‘Adipurush’ was a critical and commercial disaster, and the film even failed to recover its reported Rs 600 crore budget.
During the interview, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor also hinted towards a possible upcoming collaboration.
“We are actually working on something and trying to come up with a… something that takes into account that we are married, so play against that a little bit. It is a work in progress,” said Saif.
For the unversed, Kareena and Said started dating each other when they met on the sets of ‘Tashan’.
The film, by Vijay Krishna Acharya, was a flop and their other collaboration with Sriram Raghavan on ‘Agent Vinod’ also tanked at the box office. However, their film ‘Kurbaan’, fared decently at the box office.
